Paper presented at Foundations of Digital Games 2015: While Erving Goffman’s work on frames has found broad adoption in game research, his sociological theory of gameplay enjoyment as “euphoric ease” has not been probed, although it is one of the few theories of gameplay enjoyment focusing what is absent in gameplay. Because spontaneous and socially demanded emotional involvement often align in gameplay, Goffman holds, it lacks the effortful self-regulation of conduct and emotion typical for everyday life. This paper presents an empirical grounding of Goffman’s theory, drawing on a qualitative interview study on social norms of emotion regulation in video game play. Data suggests that the absence of active emotional self-control may indeed be a hygiene factor of game enjoyment most strongly found in solitary gameplay, afforded by a socio-material setting licensing the display of gaming-typical emotions, and shielding form potentially disapproving onlookers.

1. joys of
absenceemotion, emotion display,
and interaction tension
in video game play
Sebastian Deterding
PlaIT Lab, Northeastern University
FDG 2015, June 23, 2015
c b

2. <1>
introduction

4. two theories

5. more

6. enjoyment as present positive experience

7. the majority view
Boyle et al., 2012
Surprise
Need satisfaction Rewards
Suspense, arousal
Recognition
Power

8. less

9. enjoyment as absent negative experience

11. except …

14. Interaction tension
• For any type of social encounter, there are norms how to get
involved in what
• Usually, spontaneous desired involvement and socially
demanded misalign, resulting in “dysphoric tension”: unease,
alienation, self-repression, awkwardness
• When spontaneous and demanded involvement align, we
experience “euphoric ease”
Goffman, 1953, 1961: 41-45

15. A core aspect: emotion & its display
Hochschild, 1979; von Scheve, 2012

16. erving goffman
fun in games (1961: 23)
»Participants will hold in check certain
psychological states and attitudes, for,
after all, the very general rule that one
enter into the prevailing mood in the
encounter carries the understanding that
contradictory feelings will be held in
abeyance.«

17. erving goffman
fun in games (1961: 45)
»In gaming encounters, euphoric
interaction is relatively often
achieved: gaming is often fun.«

18. Toledano (2002)

20. <2>
study

21. research questions
1. What norms of emotion regulation exist for
leisurely video game play – if any?
2. Does the fit of spontaneously arising and socially
demanded emotion (display) lead to experiences of
“euphoric ease”? How?

22. Method & data
• Re-analysis of existing data set1
• Purposive sampling of interviewees gaming leisurely &
instrumentally: journalism, design, research, e-sport (n=19)
• Semi-structured interviews, 90-120 min. each
• Interviewees invited to report »typical« flow of events,
report norm (breaches), compare contexts
• Transcription of all interviews
• Coding and analysis w/ MAXQDA following directed
qualitative content analysis2
1 Deterding, 2014; 2 Hsieh & Shannon 2005, Gläser & Laudel 2011

23. <3>
findings

24. multiplayer gaming: less like this …
#1

25. more like this: plenty norms & self-regulation

26. “Anger, aggression when you’re playing video games together with,
(2s) via network, via Internet, (3s) those are all things ac- companying
gameplay, that are often also playful. (...) Nothing that is wrong or so.”
Interviewer: “Any situation, where you, when you say frustration or
aggression, do you remember a situation where someone took that the
wrong way?”
Player: “*No*, no, no. That’s with the people with whom I’ve played
up to now, so that they (3s) take that in a way, that it shows me, they
see that similarly. Evaluate that in the same way, are apparently (2s)
socialized similarly, know that that’s part of gaming and not meant in
a malign manner, is even part of the whole.” (P4/600-608)
otherwise “inappropriate” emotions are ok

27. “Yes, so in a group game, in a group game it is expected that
you show elation when you have achieved something,
somehow. That is, you should show that then. (3s) You
should certainly also be appropriately frustrated when
something doesn’t work, and not say: <<Ahh, who cares.>>
And then, not in online games, but in group situations like
with the Kinect, there it’s certainly also the case that you
should appropriately be happy for somebody else, if
somebody made a new high score, because that’s certainly
socially, like, desired.” (P2/260)
“appropriate” emotions are demanded

28. “Well, it’s simply distracting. So although,
well, I am somehow in flow, in quotation
marks, and immersed and in there, so I still
catch myself as I am then still somehow, as
I::: can’t focus one the game one hundred
percent” (P10/403)
dysphoric tension is common in shared encounters

29. “No, you are a sore loser if you, if you burden the others
with your own frustration. That means, when you vent
your anger and, and, and you’re in a sour mood and that
becomes a burden for the others.” (P17/444)
“For example, we had, let’s say, when a player from my
team, what also happened, for instance had just broken
up with his girlfriend. Then you’re a little down, or you’re
angry. And then, for instance, you should, when you
notice that, shouldn’t taunt him on top of that.” (P15/327)
function: regard to the others’ enjoyment & Self

30. “If somebody, who sees that differently, and for that person it’s
extremely important, and he says: <<That is *me* who has ad-
vanced here>>, then that’s something I don’t understand. If he
also signals happiness and says: <<Great.>> And for me it
doesn’t have just the appearance anymore, or just the: <<I had a
success in the game and I’m proud that I achieved a certain point
in the game, that is part of the game and I made another level.>>
No, if the other says: <<I grew *myself* as a person>>, because
he achieved something in the game. And this mixing, if I hear real
floodings of emotion or something like that, that really isn’t
necessary.” (P4/484)
function: “disinvolved involvement” signals adult self

31. this is single-player gaming
#2

32. “So if I feel unobserved, in my private
rooms, then I can show any emotion,
because there would be nothing
inappropriate in doing so, because I
wouldn’t offend anyone with it. At most I
would offend myself ((laughs)).” (P9/225)
no regulation in solitary/anonymous gaming

33. “Freedom I would also say, certainly in the private
context, because there I can simply show all
emotions that I develop when I play this game. And
that I of course don’t have when I’m sitting in the
office. That’s not a feeling of freedom. I would say,
if I had the opportunity to play Battlefield in the
office, I would enjoy it less because I then don’t
have this feeling of freedom.” (P9/309)
euphoric ease is hygiene factor, only consciously
present in solitary gaming

34. matter matters
#3

35. Interviewer: “If you play a mobile game, is there, in
comparison to playing at home alone in front of the console,
is there a difference in what emotions you can or are allowed
to express?”
Player: “Since I am then mostly in a public surrounding, loud
screaming or throwing that thing in the corner are not an
option. Although you would really want to do it, you have to
restrain yourself a bit there and, let’s put it this way, appear a
bit more suited for public.” (P7/ 269-271)
private home serves as awareness shield from
potentially disapproving others

36. <4>
summary &
outlook

37. findings
• Rich norms of emotion regulation in shared video game
play: show appropriate & inhibit inappropriate emotion to
support other’s enjoyment; display adult disinvolved
involvement
• Euphoric ease is a hygiene factor, becomes a figure of
positive experience only in solitary play
• The unobserved solitariness of solitary play is an important
factor for game enjoyment
• Material spaces are an important context factor for
unobserved solitary play

38. limitations
• Small, cultural homogenous sample
• Qualitative, theory-generating not theory-testing
• Data re-analysis: theoretical saturation was reached for
other, broader research focus

39. connections
• Mood management theory (MMT): attentive absorption
through media intervenes in negative rumination
• Flow theory (FT): Mind gravitates to disorder and worry;
well-structured activity order mind and absorbs attention,
blocking worry = flow
• MMT, FT, interaction tension agree that engrossment ->
absence of negative experience = enjoyment
• Interaction tension adds that engrossment is function of
relation between player and object and social context
(1) Whitaker, Velez & Knobloch-Westerwick, 2012; (2) Csikszentmihalyi 1990

40. future work
• Quantitative testing: Are findings reliable, generalisable?
• Psychological explanation: Why is interaction tension
unenjoyable?
• Cognitive dissonance?1
• Goal conflict?2
• Attention switching?
• Autonomous/controlled motivation?3
• Other social processes involved in game enjoyment
• Other hygiene factors/absent negatives in game enjoyment
(1) Festinger, 1962; (2) Webb & Sheeran, 2005; (3) Deci & Ryan, 2012

41. sebastian@codingconduct.cc
@dingstweets
codingconduct.cc
Thank you.